Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have spoken on the phone about closer co-operation between their countries' militaries on the Syria ceasefire plan, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
The conversation was held at the initiative of the Russian side, the ministry said.
Lavrov and Kerry also discussed co-ordinating their approaches to a draft UN Security Council resolution aimed at exerting pressure on North Korea for violating previous UN resolutions, the statement said.
RELATED READING
Appeal for Qld teen stuck in Syria after passport cancelled
The Kremlin said on Monday that "the process is underway" in Syria's cessation of hostilities, although it was clear from the beginning that it would not be easy.
"The heads of state, the presidents of Russia and the United States, had from the very beginning stressed that the way to a holding ceasefire would not be easy," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists.
"But at the same time it is crucial that this (ceasefire) agreement was reached," he said. "The process is underway."
Syrian government forces regain strategic road from IS fighters: reports
Syrian government forces regained control of a road used by the army to access Aleppo, after making advances against Islamic State fighters, a monitoring group and state television reported.
Battles continued between government forces and the jihadist group in the area in the southeast of Aleppo province, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
State TV said government forces were de-mining the road, which runs through the town of Khanaser.
A ceasefire in Syria has given war-weary civilians some respite. (AAP)
The government has been forced to use the Khanaser road to reach Aleppo because insurgents control the main highway to the city further west.
Share
